


Space Ranger Partners

by quiiiznak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Everyone else is only mentioned in passing, Gen, Keith/Lance (Voltron) - Freeform, M/M, Pining!Keith, Pining!Lance, but i figured i'd stick them all up there anyway, klance, slow burn?, they're both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-03 20:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8729059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiiiznak/pseuds/quiiiznak
Summary: In which Keith wakes up on an alien planet after the wormhole, alone. Or so he thinks... (Takes place right after the wormhole, only this time it's Keith and Lance stranded on an abandoned planet.)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Huge shoutout to my awesome beta who continues to put up with my stupid mistakes!  
> [LilliRonan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LilliRonan/pseuds/LilliRonan)  
> Go check them out! 
> 
> ((okay, so this is my first solo fic. pls go easy on me.))  
> I have the majority of this written, and plan to post every Friday-ish so long as nothing gets in the way
> 
> Come bug me on tumblr! [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

* * *

 

Groaning, Keith slowly came to --- dangling upside down from his pilot’s chair? He only realizes this problem once he tries to raise his hand to his head and his arm gets stuck on the harness holding him up.

 

“Wha--? Unnghh, my head.”

 

He struggles for a few minutes, although it seemed much longer. Finally freeing himself from the harness, he dropped down onto what was now the ceiling of his cockpit. Keith gave himself a few seconds to take stock of his injuries - nothing too bad - just some minor scrapes and cuts from the impact, and his neck is sore. _Probably whiplash_ , he thinks to himself, but it’s nothing that he can’t handle. Thankfully, it seems like the armor was able to take the brunt of the damage. The only noticeable damage is a hairline fracture in the visor of his helmet; _I hope this planet has a breathable atmosphere._

 

Only then, does he realize that he can no longer _feel_ his Lion, can no longer feel that comforting presence at the back of his mind. There are no alarms going off; no sounds at all. Red is completely offline at the moment. It’s no surprise, what with the damage they had attained during the fight against Zarkon, and the subsequent crash through the corrupt wormhole.  It’s disconcerting, no longer being able to feel her in the back of his mind, but he can’t let himself linger on that thought for too long.

 

Once he’s able to fight his way through the mess that has become his cockpit, (everything has been thrown around in their rough landing) he’s able to make it to the hatch in Red’s mouth. Prying that open, he’s met with blistering heat, and a bright sun beating down on him. Keith allows himself a second of ‘ _thank god the air is breathable’_ before he pulls himself all the way of out Red’s mouth.

 

It’s beautiful - almost, but not quite like Earth. Climbing atop his lion, Keith is able to see into the distance. There appears to be a forest about two miles away, but around where he landed - _crashed_ \- is barren. It reminds him of the desert in a way; the sand is a different color, and the sky is almost blue.  

 

With this thought, he sighs, it shouldn’t be too hard to survive on this planet for too long, so long as he doesn’t run into any enemies, Galra or otherwise. He was able to survive on his own before - he should be able to do it again. Resigning himself to his fate, Keith ducks back down inside his lion to find that emergency kit that Coran had packed for all of them. Finding that, he swings the pack onto his shoulder and begins to make his way outside of his lion again, when, suddenly, he hears it - a far-off sounding, low rumble.

 

He throws himself up and out onto his lion’s head, climbing as high as he can get. Looking around--

 

_THERE!_ Streaking across the sky is something big, something blu--BLUE! He’s able to make out the vague shape of the Blue Lion before it plummets to the ground miles away. When it finally connects with the ground, Keith can feel the violent shudder, and resounding boom from all the way over here.

 

Grabbing his medpack, Keith set off towards the wreckage. It’ll most likely take him hours to reach, but with his Lion down, he’s unable to manually override the locks to get to his speeder, therefore he has no other choice but to make the trek on foot.

 

With a backwards glance towards Red, Keith sets off.

 

* * *

 

It’s a few hours later, and the sun is starting to dip below the horizon. With the sun already making its descent for the night, the temperatures are starting to even out a little bit. It was unbearable walking through that miniature desert with no shade, and his paladin armor. He had been loathe to remove it incase there had been any inhabitants - there weren’t, thankfully, but Keith was still not going to take that chance. _It would be just my luck,_ he thinks, _for me to remove my armor to cool down, and then get shot by some unknown alien._

 

The sun was setting quick - quicker than it would on Earth, and as the sun fully set beyond the horizon, the temperatures plummeted. All that sweat is now freezing against the back of his neck.

 

He came across a small outcropping of rocks, and allowed himself a small respite. Sitting down, Keith swung the medpack off his shoulder and started to root through it. Inside he found some freeze-dried rations of food goo, some water packs, an insulation blanket, and basic first-aid supplies.

 

Keith tore into a block of the freeze-dried food goo; it’s no surprise that the goo is as disgusting - if not more - than the “fresh” goo back on the castle-ship. As he chewed, he took a look around again. It’s _too_ much like Earth; it’s throwing him off. The sand around him is almost, but not quite the right color. Cocking his head to the side, _it’s almost pink_ , he thinks to himself. And the sky - it’s more of a teal than the true blue he’s used to.

 

It’s all beautiful in it’s own way, he supposed.

 

After finishing off the goo and two of the water packs he pulled himself to his feet; cracking his back as he went. He doesn’t really have the time for sightseeing and introspection.

 

It’s maybe another hour or two later, that it seems the sun is starting to rise. _The days and nights are significantly shorter, even by Earth standards,_ he thought as he made it to the top of a sand dune. Perched atop that sand dune, he can see almost horizon to horizon. The forest is rising up directly in front of him - the difference in landscapes is jarring. Desert one second, forest the next.

 

Maybe a mile, two at the most, and slightly to his left - he can see the devastation from the Blue Lion’s crash. There’s a clear line of wreckage through the trees.

 

If he runs, he should be able to make it there in a few minutes.

 

Those few minutes is all it took for the sun to come up, bright and _hot_ in the sky; there’s already a marked difference in the temperatures. Keith is huffing as he runs, drenched in sweat. _Again_.

He clears the last few hundred feet, vaulting over downed trees when he makes it to the Blue Lion.

 

Slowing down again, Keith finally got a chance to get a good look at the wreckage. _No wonder it seemed so much lower in the ground,_ he thought to himself.

 

The Blue Lion is ass up in a small lake; the front - the cockpit - is completely submerged in the water.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another huge shoutout to my awesome beta who continues to put up with my stupid mistakes!  
> [LilliRonan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LilliRonan/pseuds/LilliRonan)  
> Go check them out! 
> 
> Come bug me on tumblr! [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

Keith ran, flinging the medpack onto the shore once made it to the edge of the lake.

 

His only thought was that he hoped his armor was still structurally sound - airtight, waterproof enough to make the swim down to Blue’s cockpit.

 

It isn’t; he knows it isn’t. There’s a hairline fracture running right down the middle of his visor and he can hear a faint hissing that he can only assume is his limited supply of oxygen slowly seeping out into the water around him.

 

By some miracle his helmet held long enough for him to make the swim through the murky lake water. He’s able to feel his way towards Blue’s mouth - hitting the release hatch - he’s able to get into her cockpit - having the forethought to quickly slam it shut once he’s fully inside.

 

Water has come rushing in, but thankfully, the cockpit has only been filled in a few inches of turbid water. Once he made it all the way inside, he spies Lance - submerged up to his knees  in water, unconscious, and slumped over the control panel but grateful that he was still harnessed in his pilot’s chair. Cursing, Keith waded through the water towards him.  

 

“Lance!”  As he eased Lance back upright, he heard a groan.

 

“-eith? S’at you? Wha - what, happened?” Shaking himself awake a little more, Lance turned to face Keith.  “ _Where_ are we?”

 

“It’s okay, I got you. I don’t know, just some planet. Can you remember anything after the fight with Zarkon and the Galra?”

 

Holding his head Lance looked around.

 

“SHIT! The wormhole!”

 

It’s then that Lance finally notices the water that has made it into his cockpit - it’s slowed down, but still must be trickling in from somewhere unseen - now up to waist-level.

 

Lance scrambled for the controls, and _thank god_ , Blue lurched up and out of the water.

 

Holding on to the back of Lance’s chair, they even out. Lance opened the hatch in Blue’s mouth - which allowed the majority of the water inside to drain out - as they touched down onto the bank of the lake long enough for to Keith jump out to grab his medpack. Back inside again, Keith is able to direct Lance over to his own downed lion.

 

Touching down close to Red, Keith is able to breath a sigh of relief - she had been too damaged; offline, that she hadn’t been able to erect a particle barrier.

 

On the short flight over to Red the remaining water had quickly drained out of the cockpit. It was a relief to no longer be standing in the waist-deep water.

 

After Lance had set Blue down on the ground relatively close to Red - as close as they can get without the lions actually touching each other - does Keith hear a gasp. He turned back towards Lance - he had already been halfway out of the cockpit - and looked at him. Lance is looking down at his right leg, after trying - and failing to stand up.

 

It’s as red as the parts of Keith’s armor.

 

Looking back up to his face, Keith can see Lance is beginning to panic - and he has every right to. There’s a good-size chunk of debris stuck in the top of Lance’s thigh - effectively missing the hard armor, and piercing through the flexible material of the flight suit.  It must’ve broken off of his console.

 

The water that had been seeping in had effectively staunched the bleeding, but now that the water had all but leaked out does it start bleeding again with a vengeance.

 

Relying on his rudimentary first-aid training from the Garrison, Keith rushed over to Lance, all while stripping the top half of his armor off.

 

“WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!?”

 

“We need to tie it off; stop any bleeding. Unless you would rather bleed out?”

 

Lance mumbled something that Keith couldn’t hear, turning his head away.

 

With all of the adrenaline of finding each other, and getting back to Red, Lance hadn’t even had a moment to take stock of any injuries he might’ve had, but now that the adrenaline had worn off, _shi~it does this hurt_ . He slammed his head back and smack it into the headrest. _Great, now I’ve probably given myself a concussion as well. Can this day get any worse?_ Thankfully, Lance was broken out of his musings by Keith, who for _some_ reason was now also struggling out of his black flight suit.

 

Keith cocked his head to the side, “why is your face all red?”

 

He hadn’t realized that he had been staring. Lance sputtered; “WHAT THE-- WHAT?! YOU SHU-- SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”

 

Once Keith has successfully extracted himself from his flight suit, left in only a black tanktop and the bottom half of his armor, did he kneel in front of Lance.

 

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!?”

 

“Again, would you rather bleed out here? I can leave if you want me too.”

 

Lance just continued to stare him down.

 

Receiving no answer, Keith grabbed his leg to lift it high enough to wedge his flight suit under.

 

“Alright, now, this is going to hurt.”

 

“What’s going to--FU~CK!!”

 

Lance scrabbled at his hands but Keith kept going.

 

“I need to get this as tight as possible so we can get this out of your leg.”

 

“GET IT OUT?! Nope, no no no no. Just leave it.”

 

But Keith wasn’t listening. Tying off his shirt right above the shard, he moved to grab it. Lance was quicker, grabbing at Keith’s hand.

 

Looking down at Keith, he looks scared. “Please. Don’t.”

 

“I’m sorry, but I have to.”

 

Keith squeezed his hand before getting to work.

 

He’s slowly, oh so agonizingly slowly, trying to dislodge the metal shard lodged in Lance’s thigh. Sneaking a look up at him, Keith almost stops.

He’s pale, hands gripped onto to arm rests shaking with the force of his grip; but he has to keep going.

 

It’s almost completely out when he hears it - a groan - and then he feels Lance slump forward again. He’s passed out.

 

It’s almost a blessing.

 

Sighing, Keith set about cleaning and sealing the wound to the best of his abilities with the meager medical supplies out of his medpack.

 

He’s finally done - hands covered in Lance’s blood - but he’s done. The worst of it is over. _For now_ , he thinks.

 

Keith got up, brushing off his hands; he can’t just sit anymore.

 

* * *

 

He checked on Red first.

 

“Hey girl.” Rubbing his hand across part of her mouth, “I promise - we’ll get out of this; we’ll get you fixed up again. Soon.” It hurts. Hurts in a way he hadn’t been expecting - to not be able to feel her presence at all.

 

There’s no more he can do here.

 

Keith steeled himself and turned back towards Blue.

 

* * *

 

After a quick check on Lance - still unconscious, but less pained looking - Keith turned in search of Lance’s medpack. _Hopefully he has more than I had. I already ran through all the bandages in my pack._

 

He does.

 

It must be his tendency to hurt himself more easily than the others that Coran had packed more first-aid supplies, or maybe Lance had stockpiled this on his own, but it doesn’t matter. There are bandages, and antibiotics, and a plethora of different salves, creams; almost everything from the infirmary it seemed.

 

Keith grabbed the medpack and spun towards the cockpit.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Keith makes it back to Lance, he still hasn’t woken up yet.

 

Loathe to disturb him just yet, Keith sat himself down next to the console.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't abandoned this! (I've just been extremely lazy with the holidays) 
> 
> Un-beta'd, so any and all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Anyways! Here's chapter 3! 
> 
> And as always - come talk to me on tumblr! [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)

* * *

 

 

 When Lance finally came to for the second time since Keith had found him, it’s well past midnight - or so Keith assumed, it should be getting light out soon.

 

“Mmph. Keith.” Lance roused Keith from his fitful nap against the console. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have at some point.

 

“Hey. Hey, how’re you feeling?” Putting the back of his hand against Lance’s forehead, Keith can feel a little warmth. Hopefully, it’s not a fever, or the onset of an infection.

 

“Mmmm, I’ve been better. Leg’s sore.” Grimacing as he shifted, Lance tried - and failed - to stand up. “FUCK!”

 

Keith was up off the floor in an instant.

 

“What’re yo--Stop! Sit back down!”

 

He’s got just enough time to catch Lance before he falls and hurts himself again, maneuvering him back into his seat.

 

“STOP. Just--stop trying to move. Just stay there, let me check your leg again.” rummaging around in his and Lance’s medpacks; mumbling to himself  “we should have enough bandages to re-wrap your leg, and I think I saw some antibiotic ointment, but it’s in Altean so…”

 

* * *

 

After taking care of  Lance’s wound again - this time with new bandages, and some Altean antibiotic ointment, ( _“It’s not space neosporin Lance! Stop calling it that!”_ ) Keith sat down with his back against the console.

 

Just as Keith is going through the remainder of their combined medical supplies, he hears it --

 

A crackling noise?….Static? Static!

 

_“--nce! Lance! Come in!”_

 

They both look at each other.

 

Allura? Wha--? Allura!

 

They scramble for the console but Keith was faster; surging up off the floor, and clambering for the comm.

 

“Allura! Can you hear me? It’s Keith. I’m here with Lance.”

 

_“Keith? Thank goodness! Where’s Lance? Are you two alright?”_

 

“Princess--”

 

Cutting him off, Keith continued, “I’m good - a little banged up but nothing I can’t handle. Lance though--he’s--his leg is messed up. Had to pull a chunk of metal out of his thigh. I was able to patch it up as good as I could with what we’ve got - but, he needs to get to a healing pod before infection sets in.”

 

_“Alright. Stay there. Keith, are you near the Red Lion? I can’t pick up a location on it.”_

 

“Yeah, we’re right next to it.”

 

_“Okay, good. We’ll try to triangulate your location. We took some pretty heavy damage from our landing coming out of that corrupted wormhole, but we should be able to get to you two soon.”_

 

Once Allura closed the comm, Keith let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

 

Turning towards Lance, Keith realizes that he had been quiet for the majority of the conversation with the princess.

 

“Lance?”

 

He’s pale as a ghost.

 

Putting the back of his hand to Lance’s forehead Keith can feel the beginnings of a fever.

 

“I'm fine. Stop fussing.” He weakly tried to push Keith’s hand away.

 

“It’s NOT fine! It feels like you’re starting with a fever, which only means infection. We have no idea what could’ve been in the water where you crashed; we’re already running low on bandages and we’ve only been here for a full day the most; not to mention, neither of us can read any of the labels on this medicine.” Keith is pacing back-and-forth in front of Lance. “We have no idea how long we’re going to be stuck here. Allura didn’t say how soon they could get here, only that it was soon. Soon could be anywhere from a few hours to a few day! Ughh!” He’s grabbing at his hair now, for lack of anything better to do.

 

“Dude. Take a deep breath; you seriously need to calm down--”

 

“Calm down? How are YOU so calm right now?”

 

“Simple,” Lance shrugged. “I’m not, but what good is freaking out going to do? We’ll just wing it; between the two of us we should be able to figure out some type of game plan.”

 

“Wing it?! When has ‘winging it’ _ever_ worked out in our favor. You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Keith trailed off. Now that his anger over the situation has ebbed slightly, he rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry,” he mumbled, looking away, “I’m not used to not having a plan…”

 

“Hey, you never know! This could be our lucky break!”

 

“Doubt it, but we do need to think of a plan. It’s going to be getting dark soon and we’re sitting ducks out in the open here.”

 

Lance pushed himself upright, “alright so, how’s Red? Can you move her at all? We could go back to that lake I crashed into. The trees should be able to provide us some cover, and we could always...build a fire….what?”

 

Keith was just looking at him.

 

“That’s...actually a good idea?”

 

“Wai--why do you sound so surprised?! I can have good ideas!”

 

“Well, yeah but, not usually…”

 

“Wha--”

 

Cutting Lance off, “Anyway, Red’s down; completely offline. Maybe we could figure something out - a rig, or a tie - you could drag her back with Blue; I can’t leave her. We aren’t even sure if this planet is inhabited - I’m not chancing that the Galra could come and take her.”

 

“No, no. Yeah. We can’t leave her,” Lance isn’t really paying Keith any attention, he’s fiddling around with his dashboard and its controls. “AHA! Got it!”

 

“Got what?”

 

“This!” Lance pulled a lever on the console, and a metal cord shot out of Blue’s mouth. From where he’s standing, Keith can see it connect with the side of his Lion with a clang. “Alright, hope this works.”

 

“Hope what wor--UNH!”

 

Keith is jerked to the side from the force of Blue taking off. There’s a considerable drag, and then - takeoff. They don’t get far off the ground - a few hundred feet - but it’s enough. The Red lion is up off the ground as well - still connected to Blue. It’s slow going; Red is almost too heavy for Blue to handle but, they persevere.

 

* * *

 

It’s about thirty minutes later when they touch down in almost the exact spot that Lance crashed in, and it’s starting to get dark again.

 

Keith was moving as soon as they landed.

 

“Alright. This should be good for now.” Grabbing, and activating his bayard, “I’m going cut up some of this wood from the downed trees. We need to get a fire going; it’s going to be getting cold soon. Stay here.”

 

He’s not even finished talking before he’s out of the cockpit.

 

Lance is just sitting there, left to scratch his head.

 

“Rude.”

* * *

 

 

 

“Stupid mullet; Like I’m just going to sit here while he’s having all the fun.” Grunting, Lance pulled himself to his feet using the control panels around him. “I can do this. I can do this.”

 

It’s getting down the ramp out of his lion’s mouth that proves to be the most difficult; there aren’t many places for him to hold onto, not to mention it’s set at a steep enough angle that he loses his footing almost instantly.

 

“Quiznak!”

 

Sliding to the bottom of the ramp in a heap, he ends up hurting his pride, as much as his leg.

 

* * *

 

By the time Keith made it back with a bundle of firewood, Lance has made a makeshift tent out of the large insulation blankets. He’s strung them up between some of the larger pieces of wood lying around the lions.

 

Huffing, “I thought I told you to stay inside?”

 

“Seriously? Since when have I listened to anything you’ve told me to do before?”

 

“Fine, whatever,” walking over to where Lance has perched himself on some low rocks, “Help me with this then.”

 

Dropping the bundle of sticks, Keith manages to build a decent pyre, and he backs off as Lance activates his bayard. Dialing it down to its lowest setting, he aims it at the bottom of the pyre, and shoots.

 

The dry branches catch almost instantly, and within minutes they have a good-size fire in front of them.

 

Keith heaves a sigh of relief, and allows himself to sit down next to Lance. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this is completely un-beta'd so any and all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr! (we can gush about the season 2 trailer!) [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!

The fire is warm, but not warm enough.

 

They were able to get Lance’s bleeding under control with the new bandages, and had removed Keith’s flight suit from where it was wrapped around Lance’s leg. After untying the makeshift tourniquet, Keith had washed it in the lake to remove the majority of Lance’s blood, but it was still drying next to the fire. As much as Keith wanted to put it back on, with it being half wet would only make it worse and take longer to dry overall.

 

He shivered in his tank top, and moved closer to the fire.

 

“You alright?”

 

Teeth chattering, “uh-huh.”

 

“Dude! I’m pretty sure your lips are turning blue.”

 

“I’m fine. The sun should be coming up in another hour or two.” Keith shrugged, “I’ll be fine; nothing I can’t handle. You should get some rest. We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, you need to regain your strength. We’re lucky those antibiotic ointments in the medpacks seem to be helping with your fev--”

 

“C’mere.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

Lance got up to hobble over to the makeshift tent; ( _“What are you doing?!? Are you trying to rip your leg open again?!”_ ) he pulled down the insulation blankets, and made the short way over to where Keith was sitting.

 

“Here,” He threw the blanket at Keith, nearly losing his balance after he overcompensated for the throw. “Woah.”

 

Having regained his balance, Lance continued, “I know you have this whole ‘lone wolf’ thing going on but man, you’re going to pop a blood vessel at this rate. Or your face is going to stick that way. Either way dude - chill out.” Casting him a sideways gaze, “and would it _kill_ you to put your bayard away for five minutes? Quiznak, if something was going to attack us then it would’ve already.”

 

Looking at Lance, “you don’t know that. For all we know, Zarkon himself could jump out of the bushes the second we put our guard down.”

 

“Can you EVEN hear yourself right now?!” Lance flung his hands around him, “Paranoid much?”

 

“Somebody has to be. And I’m not paranoid; I’m just trying to be prepared.”

 

“All I’m saying is - there’s ‘prepared’, Lance gestured at Keith, “and then there’s Prepared, and man, you are prepared with a capital ‘P’.”

 

“That doesn’t even make sense…”

 

“IT TOTALLY DOES!”

 

“Whatever. What are you doing?” He tensed as Lance plopped himself down next to him.

 

Lance gave him a look. “Body heat. These blankets only do so much, plus if you’re going to stubborn about this then the _least_ you can do is help keep me warm.”

 

“Knock it off.”

 

“No; Make me.” He stuck his tongue out and proceeded to snuggle closer into Keith’s side. “C’mon, lighten up. Look man - I’m cold; you’re cold. Two birds with one stone!”

 

“You know what--” Keith shook his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m too tired for this. Just--stop fidgeting around. I’ll take the first watch and wake you in an hour.”

 

“Fine.”

 

* * *

 

Of _course_ Lance snored.

 

It hadn’t even been ten minutes, and Lance was out like a light; Keith couldn’t blame him, not really, but still….

The forest around them was quiet; the trees gently swaying in the slight breeze. With Lance pressed up against his side, and the combined warmth of their bodies - it was peaceful; calming. Keith felt himself relaxing - as much as he could in their current situation - he leant more into Lance’s side. His eyelids felt heavier; his blinks came slower. The last thought he had before he fell asleep was, _five minutes to rest my eyes - what could that hurt?_

 

And if he fell asleep against Lance, snuggled up in the blanket - _T_ _hen who cares? No one has to know anyway. It’s not like it means anything. Right?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this is completely un-beta'd so any and all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr!  
> [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

 

Keith jolted awake; it took him a few minutes to gather himself and take in his surroundings. Everything was still where they had left it and they hadn’t been murdered in their sleep, so he was counting it as a win.

 

The sun was already beating down on them; their combined body heat underneath the blanket must’ve been what had woken him from his surprisingly sound slumber.

 

He rubbed his eyes, and turned towards Lance.

 

He was still sound asleep on Keith’s shoulder. _Seriously? He’s even annoying in his sleep - drooling on my shoulder. Really?_ Keith couldn’t really find it in himself to actually be angry at Lance; He was just grateful that Lance was starting to look a little better.

 

“Get up. I need to check your leg again.” Keith shook him gently, and had his hand pressed against Lance’s forehead, brushing away a few errant hairs; “your fever seems to be gone at least.”

 

“Mmmph. Five more minutes mom.”

 

“Do I look like your mom?” He shook him a little harder this time. “Seriously, get up.”

 

Keith got to his feet to grab the medpacks from besides Blue’s paw. Lance who hadn’t fully woken up yet fell to the side with a yelp.

 

“Quiznak! Give me a little warning next time.”

 

Keith walked back over towards Lance, new bandages, and antibiotic ointment in tow. “I did genius; I told you twice to get up and all you did was call me mom.”

 

“I--WHAT?! I most certainly did NOT!” Lance crossed his arms and looked away.

 

Keith sat back down next to him, _is he blushing?_ “Come on, slide over a little bit, I wanna look at your leg.”

 

Lance propped himself up on the rock behind him. “You know, come to think of it, my leg doesn’t actually hurt all that much. Hmm.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“‘Huh?’ Huh, what? How bad does it look?” Lance tried to look past Keith’s head; “Answer me man. I’m freaking out up here.”

 

Keith looked up at him. “It’s--Uh, it looks really good? Like too good?”

 

“Really?! Move your mullet, lemme see.” Keith fell back onto his heels. “Woah. That space neosporin is no joke.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes.

 

Lance’s leg looked amazing. It wasn’t completely healed - not by a long shot - but it looked almost a hundred times better than the night before. It was no longer bleeding and the skin around the actual puncture wound looked almost new. It was pink and puckered around the edges; it looked liked it would after a few weeks of healing, not a few hours. Lance was just feeling around the bottom of the wound with a look of complete fascination.

 

“Those meds are almost better than the healing pods. Remind me to thank Coran for packing all this stuff if we ever get back.”

 

“Don’t think like that. Of course we’re going to get back. Coran and Allura are on their way to get us as we speak. Now move your hand, I’m gonna rewrap your leg, and put some more of this ointment on it.”

 

Finished with that, Keith stood up and put his hand out to Lance. “Think you can stand on it now?”

 

Lance grabbed for his hand, and pulled himself upright, with only a slight wobble.

 

“Ha! Good as new!”

 

Keith gave him a look. “No, you’re not. You can’t overdo it, but at least we aren’t stuck in one small area now.” He looked around, taking in the forest a little; “I should go further in the woods today, maybe I can find some sort of food for us; we’re running low and we don’t know how much longer we’re going to be here for. And with your leg not as bad as it was, I don’t really have to worry too much about something coming after you while I’m gone. You’ve got your bayard, you should be good for a few hours. Worse comes to worse, you can just lock yourself inside Blue and throw up her particle barrier.”

 

“Keith, buddy. Again with the pacing and the getting yourself worked up over nothing.” With a slight limp Lance walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I can take care of myself. Seriously! I’m a paladin of Voltron just as much as you are! Nothing’s going to stop me!”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, “Oh really? You got pretty close to letting a chunk of metal stop you yesterday.”

 

“That was a fluke! Not gonna happen again!”

 

“Uh huh. Say whatever you gotta say to make yourself feel better.”

 

* * *

 

After making sure that Lance was going to be alright on his own, Keith made his way into the forest. The temperature wasn’t too bad yet, even with his full armor back on; his helmet’s visor was a lost cause, but the comm still worked. It eased his mind a fraction - being able to get in contact with Lance in case there was an emergency.

 

Walking over some downed branches, leaves crunching under his boots, his thoughts strayed back to Lance. Keith had been thinking a lot about him recently - even before the whole mess with Zarkon, and then this.

 

Sure, Lance was annoying - _extremely so, at times_ \- but still; Keith stopped walking, lost in thought. _Yeah_ , Lance was important to the team - crucial in forming Voltron - but he meant just as much to them, _to him_ , outside of Voltron as well.

 

And hmm, wasn’t that a weird thought? Since when had Lance started to mean anything to him?

 

They weren’t ‘rivals’ - as much as Lance insisted that they were; the rivalry was one-sided on Lance’s end anyways. They weren’t enemies, maybe acquaintances? Keith was hoping that maybe they were on their way to being friends?

 

He genuinely enjoyed the time they spent together in the castle - sparring, bickering half-heartedly, and just hanging out with the rest of the team. They had a good dynamic going between the two of them. It was nice.

 

After Sendak had attacked the castle on Arus, and Lance had been almost killed….

 

Keith couldn’t even bring himself to think about what might have happened had Hunk and Coran not gotten that crystal in time. He had been distraught; not knowing what to do with himself. He had stayed on the training deck - hoping to exhaust himself past thinking - for the majority of the time that Lance had been inside the healing pod; only leaving once it was close to the time that Lance was supposed to be taken out of the pod. Pacing in front of his unconscious teammate for the remainder of the time, Keith had been a complete wreck. The rest of the team could tell he was upset, but he had no words for them at the time. Had no words for himself either. But now…

 

Why did he want - _hope, for_ \- them to be more? Why did--

 

“Keith!”

 

He was broken out of his musings by the comm in his helmet; he didn’t remember sitting down or taking it off, but there it was - sitting on the rocks beside him.

 

He slipped his helmet back on, “Lance? What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

 

Lance’s voice crackled through the comm, “I can see the castle! C’mon. c’mon! Hurry up, get back here!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again - this is all unbeta'd so any and all mistakes are my own. 
> 
> OH.MY.GOD. THAT S2! Please come scream at me about it on tumblr
> 
> [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this!

* * *

 

By the time Keith broke through the line of trees in a sprint, Coran and Allura were already out of the castle talking to Lance. He could see the Black Lion as it came out of it’s hangar - presumably to bring the Red and Blue Lions back inside the castle. Keith sent Shiro a wave.

 

“Good to have you two back,” was heard through the tiny speaker of his helmet.

 

“Good to be back,” Keith answered with a sigh.

 

At that, Lance looked up from his conversation with the Princess, and Coran. The smile that he gave Keith took his breath away; it was blinding. He couldn’t help himself. The smile he gave to Lance was just as bright. 

 

They were going to be okay. Lance was going to get in a healing pod, and his leg would be fine. 

 

They were safe now.

 

* * *

 

Once Keith and Lance had been reunited with the everyone - they were the last back; Shiro had been found first, Pidge and Hunk had been next - he was whisked off to decontainment, while Lance was placed in a healing pod.

 

Pidge and Hunk had been together as well, thankfully - both exhausted but, neither too worse for wear. They were waiting inside the castle, already getting ready to begin the repairs on Red.

 

Hugs were shared all around, and then everyone got to work. 

 

He was left alone after coming out of decontainment; It was nice to be able to shower in his room again. He got dressed, and with a long glance at his bed, Keith walked out into the hallway; his door quietly sliding shut behind him.

 

* * *

 

According to Coran, Lance was lucky that Keith had found him when he did. There had been some bacteria in the lake water that had gotten into his wound. He was extremely lucky that Keith’s first instinct after finding him and removing the metal were to use that antibiotic ointment on the wound. It was infected, but not terribly so; Lance would make a complete recovery. 

 

That was a few hours ago. He was surprised that he hadn’t worn a hole into the floor in front of Lance’s pod.

 

“Hey.”

 

He jumped as Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder. 

 

“He’s going to fine, Keith. Don’t do this to yourself, not after last time. You have to get some rest. You’ve only been to your room to shower; you need to lay down for a bit. He’ll still be in there when you get up.”

 

“Shiro. I can’t- I’m sorry. It’s just-” Keith rubbed his hands down his face. “He was in bad shape when I found him. I can’t… Can’t have him waking up alone.”

 

Shiro shook his head, and took a gamble, “Have you thought about telling him how you feel?”

 

He jerked away from Shiro. “WHAT?! WHY WOULD I-... WHY WOULD YOU?!”

 

“Keith,” Shiro smiled, “It’s been pretty obvious since we picked you two up, and honestly?” Shiro shrugged his shoulders. “I just made a guess about you having feelings for Lance, but your reaction just now kinda gave you away.”

 

Keith just stared at Shiro like a deer stuck in the headlights of an oncoming car. His mouth was opening and closing, but no sound was coming out. 

 

Obviously having overheard their conversation Coran chose that moment to walk into the infirmary, “What? My boy, were we supposed to think that you  _ didn’t  _ have feelings for Lance here?”

 

Keith slid down the wall with his head in his hands, “Was I  _ that _ obvious?” he groaned.

 

“Doesn’t matter, m’boy.” Coran was typing on the keypad on the front of Lance’s pod. “All good! He’ll be ship-shape by tomorrow morning, so I suggest you get some rest for the time being. Shiro, here, will keep watch over him for awhile.”

 

“Go ahead Keith, He’ll be fine. Go lay down for awhile. Think some things over.”

 

“Fine.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey. Wake up.” 

 

Something kept nudging Keith in the shoulder. Swatting it away, “leave me alone.”

 

“Keith, c’mon buddy.” It nudged him again.

 

“Lance. Go away.” He rolled over expecting to hit the wall of his bunk but instead smacking into the ground.  _ Where am I? _ Looking around - as it slowly came back to him--

 

* * *

 

_ He was restless. Obviously.  _

 

_ Keith went to his room first, with the intention of actually getting some sleep but, after his talk with Shiro and Coran, his mind was racing. Lying in bed he stared up at the ceiling, and groaned. Resigned to another sleepless night Keith rose, grabbing his jacket, and decided to work out his frustrations on the training deck.  _

 

_ Unfortunately for Keith it seemed that the training deck was still offline due to the damage sustained by the wormhole. He sighed; It seemed he couldn’t catch a break.  _

 

_ No destination in mind, he started walking.  _

 

_ He passed by the infirmary, and peeked his head inside - Shiro was still inside quietly talking to Allura and Pidge - not feeling like talking to anyone at the moment, he kept walking.  _

 

_ After making a few more circuits around the main living area of the castle, Keith ended up in front of Red’s hangar. Pressing the keypad by the door, Keith entered the familiar space.  _

 

_ It was a complete mess inside. Wires, circuits, and scanners were strewn all around the floor. He wasn’t really paying attention - just trying to make his to his lion - when he hears it. A soft rumbling, constant, like a purr. Whipping his head up, Keith is amazed.  _ Woah! Pidge and Hunk sure work quick,  _ he thinks to himself. Sure, Red doesn’t look battle-ready just yet, but at least they got her back upright, back online. _

 

“Hey girl.” 

 

_ He walked over and pat her leg; it’s comforting to have her presence in the back of his mind again.  _

 

_ Before Keith realized it, he was leaning against one of Red’s paws, and he was talking nonstop; talking about all he went through since waking up in her cockpit; talking about his feelings for Lance; and finally apologizing to her for putting her through that fight with Zarkon.  _

 

_ He talked for the majority of the night; grateful for Red’s calming presence at his back - all the while, her purr resonated at the back of his mind. He didn’t even realize that his eyes were getting heavy, blinks becoming longer. Before long, he was out like a light propped against one of Red’s massive paws. _

 

* * *

 

 

_ Mmm, Lance--!  _

 

Shaking himself back to reality - he must’ve fallen asleep after ranting to his Lion - Keith jumped to his feet.

 

“LANCE! What are you doing? When did you get out of the pod?! Shit! I told Shiro to wake me up before they got you out!”

 

Lance chuckled. He had been kneeling next to Keith; He straightened up halfway through his freakout. “Quiznak, I thought I told you to chill out… So, Shiro said you wanted to talk to me?”

 

That calmed Keith down quick; he froze on his bed. “Umm…yeah, about that.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Umm…so, you see, the thing is… I-...” Keith took a deep, steadying breath -  _ okay, I can do this. I can do this. _ \- “I think I like you.”  _ There. I said it. _

 

“Cool, dude. I like you too.”

 

Keith gestured between the two of them, “I mean… I  _ like _ you, as in more than friends.”

 

“Oh.” His eyes darted to the hangar door. Lance looked like he was starting to panic.

 

“I MEAN-... Nothi- nothing has to change! Honestly, I just-... It doesn’t! What I mean is--!” Keith was rambling; he took another deep breath. “Can I start over?”

 

Lance just nodded, dumbly.

 

“Okay, so, I know this seems like it’s coming out of left field here? And it’s not? Maybe, kinda? I don’t know.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “What I’m trying to say is: I like you, more than I probably should I guess. I just… you’re important to the team. Important to  _ me _ . Ever since you got hurt when Sendak attacked the castle, I don’t know what we- I, would without you. I…”

 

“Keith.”

 

“What?”

 

“Just- just stop overthinking everything for  _ once _ in your life.”

 

“I’m not--!”

 

Keith was interrupted by Lance grabbing him by the sides of his face. Lance was kissing him? Lance was kissing him! 

 

_ HOLY SHIT!  _ And  _ soft, his lips are soft,  _ are Keith’s last coherent thoughts before his eyes slid shut and he moaned into the kiss.   __

 

Lance had deepened the kiss after Keith shut but his eyes, but they shot open the second his back was pressed against his Lion’s front leg.  _ Mmmmm _ . The kiss continued like that for a few minutes - Keith and Lance both desperately fighting for control. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end as they broke apart gasping. 

 

Leaning his forehead against Keith’s, “How was that?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “‘How was that?’ He asks. Pfft.” Bringing his head back, and looking Lance over, “So, uhh… Safe to say you like me more than a friend?” 

 

“Yeah, dude. Completely safe to say I like you ‘more than a friend.’”

 

“Don’t call me dude, I just had my tongue down your thoat.”  _ Woah, was that my voice? _ Keith cleared his throat. “Since- since when have you liked me? I thought we were ‘rivals’?” 

 

Keith tried to push him away, expecting Lance to back up but he just boxed him in ever further against his Lion. 

 

“Wha--?” 

 

“Keith.”

 

“Hmm?” 

 

Keith stopped in his attempts to push Lance away. Lance was just standing there - having backed off a little - rubbing the back of his neck with his hand; he couldn’t bring himself to look Keith in the eyes. 

 

“Umm… since-...” Lance cleared his throat, and started over, “since the Garrison? I mean- yeah, since the Garrison. Umm…” He was looking at anything  _ but  _ Keith now. “It’s kinda embarrassing? Definitely embarrassing,” he mumbled. Lance paced in front of him, throwing his arms around. He spun around and pointed an accusing finger at Keith. “Dude! You were at the top of the class! A fighter pilot, the best of the best! Second to none other than Shiro! Man! You were beyond unattainable! ‘The Garrison’s golden boy.’” Lance rambled, “and who was I? A nobody!” He hung his head. “I was a joke; always failing in the simulations. Forever being compared to you. I was just some loser cargo pilot who couldn’t cut it as a fighter pilot. I mean…  you didn’t even remember my name when we rescued Shiro…”

 

“Lance.”

 

He whipped his head towards Keith - who had just been standing where Lance had left him, backed up against his Lion. 

 

“Stop with all the- all the self-deprecating shit. What does any of that matter anyway?”

 

“It matters… every time I tried to one-up you or prove myself to be just as good as you I would fall short, and make a complete ass of myself - usually in front of you - and you would just walk away or scoff, or… I’m just? I had the biggest crush on you - still do.” 

 

Lance had this small smile on his face, finally looking up at him.

 

“Wha--?” Keith spluttered; face heating up. 

 

Lance walked over to him now. Repeating himself, “I had  _ the _ biggest crush on you. That stupid mullet that only you could make work, those stupid fingerless gloves, and that ridiculous bad boy attitude…” 

 

Lance was directly in front of him again, pushing him back against Red. 

 

“I- What? You?”

 

Keith was at a total loss for words.

 

It’s a good thing Lance had other plans for them. Bringing their lips together again, Keith let out a breathy moan; it was gentler this time, slower. There wasn’t any of that underlying urgency from before, but it also wasn’t any less passionate.  _ ‘It’s softer’  _ Keith thought as they moved their lips against one another. 

 

This went on for a few moments - more of a give and take, than a fight for dominance - before they broke apart again, gasping; grinning. Keith leaned his forehead against Lance’s, breathing heavily in each others air. 

 

“Don’t do that again, okay? Stop almost dying on me.”

 

Lance chuckled, pressing another kiss against his lips.

 

“Yeah. I’ll try.” 

 

They both slid down to the floor, cradled in each other’s arms. 

 

“Think you’ll remember me cradling you in my arms this time?”

 

Lance scoffed and pulled him in tighter. “Yeah, I think I’ll remember this bonding moment smartass.”

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
